much. It may be that
they didn't believe it would be possible for the outlaw to make his
get-away in broad daylight, and it was certain that they stood in
mighty fear of him. They cowered back, pale and shaking, as he calmly
took the sack, heavy with its weight of bank notes of healthy
denomination, and stepped to the entrance to the big vault.

"When they come an' let you out," said Rathburn, "you can tell them
that the gent who helped himself to the berries in the cash box is
just beginnin' to cash in on the reputation that's been wished on
him!"

He smiled grimly, as he swung the light, inner door of the vault shut
and clamped down the lever. He slid his gun into its holster and,
carrying the sack of loot, walked out of the door of the second cage
toward the main entrance of the bank. As he reached the door, a man
came up the steps. Rathburn recognized Doane, and his lips curled in a
snarl. It was the first time Doane had come face to face with him, but
the man started back in surprise.

"Rathburn!" he exclaimed.

Rathburn hesitated. His first feeling of instinctive animosity fled.
He scowled in a swift effort to place the man, and the thought that in
an indirect way Doane was partly responsible for what had come to pass
flashed through his tortured brain. This brought swift comprehension
of his immediate danger. Now that he had taken the decisive step he
would have to call upon all his resources of courage and cunning to
protect his liberty. The die had been cast!

He hurried past Doane, swung into the saddle, and rode at a swift
pace around the corner, leaving Doane standing on the steps of the
bank, staring after him with an expression of amazement on his face.

Rathburn knew it would be but a matter of a very few minutes before
the knowledge that the State Bank of Hope had been held up and
robbed--would be common property in the town. The very boldness of the
robbery had insured its success, for none would dream that a lone
bandit would have the nerve to come into town in broad daylight, hold
up the bank, and attempt to run for it across the open, burning spaces
of the desert. But he was not aware of the coincidence which would
make the news of the robbery known sooner than he expected.

At the end of the side street he struck boldly across the desert,
driving in his spurs and urging the gallant dun to its top speed. In a
matter of minutes he was out of view of the town--a speck bobbing amid
the clumps